Paris 2011: Sunaero take on fuel leaks

Sunaero (Hall 4 Stand B133), a French company specializing in the detection and prevention of fuel leaks in aircraft, has come to the Paris Air Show convinced that its niche activity will carry it on a wave of business growth over the next decade. The Lyon-based firm claims that the process it has developed since 1992 provides the most reliable way of protecting against leaks while minimizing aircraft downtime.

Working initially with France’s DGA defense agency, Sunaero spent its first seven years developing a technique using rapid polymerization to ensure that all safety-critical joints are sealed to prevent leaks. This has now won widespread approval by foreign militaries, but the company is also making breakthroughs into the civil sector. Since the last Paris show in 2009, it has won more than 30 contracts from manufacturers, including Airbus, and airline maintenance departments including those of Air France, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Finnair and EgyptAir.

Here at Le Bourget, Sunaero is part of the EDEN cluster of French small- and medium-sized aerospace enterprises. According to vice president Thierry Regond, over the next two years the civil market will rise from 25 percent of its overall business to 45 percent.